It wasn’t until I started compiling stories for this post that I realized just how much had taken place this year on issues of food, agriculture, and nutrition. While by no means a definitive list, I think it covers the most substantial events.

So, if you’ve been spelunking in Antarctica for the past twelve months — or just want a short trip down memory lane — let’s review 2011, the year where:Continue Reading »

As with computer operating systems or software programs, it is imperative to consistently update your Big Food BS detector. Below, I decode three of the latest misleading declarations making the rounds.

Defined as “conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious,” the word ‘wholesome’ counts “nourishing” and “nutritious” among its synonyms. It appears Big Food is blissfully ignorant to these facts, at least based on the horrific “kids’ food” concoctions they have branded as “wholesome”. Behold the worst offenders:

In General Mills’ extensive product catalog, Fiber One is the health and wellness darling. What started out as a standalone cereal in 1985 is now an expanded line that includes bars, breads, brownies, cottage cheese, muffin and pancake mixes, ready-to-eat muffins, and even yogurt. According to Susan Crocket, General Mills’ senior technology officer for health and nutrition, high-fiber offerings in the General Mills lineup (including Fiber One), are successful because they “actually taste good so people will actually eat [them]“.

Fiber One products are essentially marketed as a “one-stop shop” for fiber needs. One of the company’s main selling points is that a mere half-cup of their original cereal offers 14 grams of dietary fiber (56% of the low-end of the daily recommended 25 – 35 gram range).

Consider me not enthused, for two reasons. First, the Fiber One website resorts to misleading tactics and inaccurate figures to showcase their products. Second, some of their products contain questionable ingredients and less-than-desireable nutrition values.

As of now, there are nine different editions (most of them boasting a “the no-diet, weight-loss solution” banner somewhere on the cover), including Drink This, Not That! and a children’s version. The common theme among all of them: pit two similar food products or fast food items against one another and select one as the better choice (AKA: award it the “eat this!” command).

This is a gimmick meant solely to sell books, not communicate a message of health and proper nutrition.

I often joke that many “kids’ cereals” (an euphemism for neon-colored sugar puffs) are the nutritional equivalent of candy and a multivitamin.

Upon sharing that observation on Twitter and Facebook earlier today, one of my followers expressed a curiosity to see a side-by-side nutritional comparison of these two foods. What a wonderful idea! I gladly accepted the request and, well, turns out my snarkiness is very based in reality.

Did you hear that? That was the sound of consumers across the country getting a vicious processed-food slap across their faces.

Sorry, Kellogg’s, the cutesy “crunchlets” term doesn’t take away from the fact that this cereal has as much in the way of real strawberries as a Big Mac.

The actual cereal has whole grains as the first two ingredients, but it also contains Splenda (the latest trick to adding a jolt of sweetness while keeping sugar values low on the Nutrition Facts label).

This, by the way, is considered one of the “healthier” big-food-company cereals. Gulp.

No, the fact that the apple-cinnamon variety is partially sweetened with “apple puree concentrate” does not make it healthier. Besides — sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup show up on the ingredient list before apple puree concentrate.

Ah, that ubiquitous marketing tactic known as the “health halo” appears to be multiplying.

You know the drill. Take minimally nutritious food, sprinkle one fiftieth of a pinch of “something healthy”, and market the living *bleep* out of said ingredient on the product’s packaging.

Consider these recently-spotted offenders:

Cinnamon Chex. “With a touch of real cinnamon,” no less. Cinnamon offers fiber, manganese, and heart-healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants. Alas, this cereal contains more sugar, oil, and salt than it does the sweet spice.

Betty Crocker Quick Banana Bread Mix. “With real bananas,” the box touts. The bananas are in there, alright. As dried flakes. Right after white flour, sugar, and partially hydrogenated oils. PS: Each of the finished product’s twelve servings offers up an entire gram of trans fat.

Yoplait Go-Gurt Strawberry Splash & Berry Blue Blast portable yogurt flavor-combination packs. There isn’t a single strawberry or blueberry in either yogurt, not even in dehydrated or powdered form. Instead, we get artificial dyes (the same ones banned by the European Union) and flavors.

Oscar Mayer Lunchables Sub Sandwich, Turkey and Cheddar. This is described as “more wholesome” than previous varieties. Does this ingredient list scream “wholesome” to you?

Thank you to Small Bites intern Laura Smith for valuable assistance with this post.

PS: Next time you eat cereal, pour yourself a half cup so you can appreciate what a small amount that is. Chances are, the average person serving themselves Golden Crisp eats at least one full cup (over two tablespoons of added sugar).